Cultural conceptualisations ofloong(龙) in Chinese idioms

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates the abundant metaphorical meanings of the termloong(‘dragon’) in Chinese idioms and the cognitive and cultural factors that influence those meanings from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. To this end, we present a systematic categorisation of the idiomatic expressions involving the termloongin Mandarin Chinese based on three conceptual metaphors:a human being is a loong, a concrete entity is a loong, andan abstract object is a loong. We then elaborate on the cultural conceptualisations ofloongfrom three perspectives: cultural schemas, cultural categories, and cultural metaphors. The results of the study show how the metaphorical conceptualisations ofloongare profoundly influenced by Chinese culture. The resulting study is intended to add to the pool of studies which lend support to the view that a fine-grained study of the metaphors of a particular culture and their linguistic realisation can shed light on how culture influences human cognition. Finally, the study calls for a clearer integration of cultural approaches into conceptual metaphor theory and it explores some possibilities in this regard.